What We Believe

God is spirit and has revealed Himself as one God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the Maker and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all honor, confidence, and love.

(Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Exodus 20:2; Revelation 4:11)

Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God—truly and fully God—and He took on human nature, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is fully God and fully man, possessing both deity and humanity united in one Person without division or confusion. He died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the world, and the benefits of His atoning death are received by faith in response to the gospel. Salvation is the free gift of God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone, not dependent on church membership, intermediaries, sacraments, or works of righteousness to attain or maintain it. He rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven in that same glorified body, and now serves as our interceding High Priest. He will return personally and visibly to establish His Kingdom and to judge the living and the dead, referring to the premillennial return of Christ when He will reign for a thousand years and fulfill His promises to Israel.

(Colossians 1:5; Philippians 2:5–8; Matthew 1:18–25; 1 Peter 2:24–25; Luke 24; Hebrews 4:14–16; Matthew 25:31–46; Revelation 11:15–17; Revelation 20:4–6, 11–15)

The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal in nature with the Father and the Son. In relation to the unbelieving world, He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is accomplished. He was active in creation and continues His work by convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony and is the agent of the new birth. He seals believers, bestows spiritual gifts, guides, teaches, sanctifies, strengthens, and helps all who belong to Christ.

(Genesis 1:1–3; Matthew 28:19; John 14:16–17, 26; John 16:8–11; Hebrews 9:14)

The Bible, consisting of both the Old and New Testaments, is divine revelation. The original autographs were verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit and are without error in all that they affirm. Scripture is the only authoritative guide for faith and practice and must not be supplanted by any other field of human learning.

(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)

Man was created by God in His own image, a special and unique act of creation rather than the product of any pre‑existing life forms. God created all things “after its kind,” which excludes any view that allows for evolutionary processes between kinds. The Genesis account is neither allegory nor myth but a literal, historical record of God’s direct and immediate creative work over six literal days.

Man, though created in the image of God, chose to sin and is therefore lost; this condition is true of all humanity. Unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The retribution of the wicked and unbelieving and the rewards of the righteous are everlasting; as the reward is conscious, so also is the retribution. This excludes any view that teaches a temporary or complete cessation of consciousness, absorption into eternal oneness, annihilation of the wicked, a “second chance,” or a period of suffering or purification in preparation for entering God’s presence.

(Genesis 1–2; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17; Romans 3:10, 23; John 3:3; Acts 2:38–39)

The Church of Jesus Christ is distinct from Israel in the ongoing program of God. The universal church consists of all who possess saving faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from Pentecost to the rapture and includes believers from every language, people, and nation. The church is an elect company of believers baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body, whose mission is to bear witness to its Head, Jesus Christ, by proclaiming the gospel among all nations.

The church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before He appears to establish His kingdom. Christ will return in the air prior to the seven‑year tribulation, receiving into heaven all believers who constitute His church. During that tribulation period, God will bring salvation to Israel and the nations while executing judgment on unbelievers.

(Acts 2:41; Acts 15:13–17; Ephesians 1:3–6; 1 Corinthians 12:12–13; Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 1:6–8; 1 Corinthians 4:16–18)

The church is expressed in local congregations of baptized believers who are joined together by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the gospel. The two biblical offices of the church are elders (also called pastors) and deacons, whose qualifications and responsibilities are clearly defined in Scripture.

The church observes two ordinances given by Christ. Believers’ baptism, administered by immersion under the authority of the local church, identifies the believer with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, signifying death to sin and new life in Him. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of Christ’s death until He comes and is to be preceded by solemn self‑examination. The elements symbolize the body and blood of Christ but convey no saving or sustaining grace in themselves. Neither ordinance imparts common or efficacious grace to the participant.

(Matthew 3:16; Matthew 28:19–20; John 3:23; 1 Timothy 3:1–7; Acts 2:41–42; Acts 8:36–38; Romans 6:3–6; 1 Corinthians 11:23–28; Colossians 2:12)